Printing machine



Sept. 16, 1930. s, HUCKlNs 1,775,677

- PRINTING MACHINE Filed July 21, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l Se t. 16, 1930. A. s. HIUCKINS 1,775,677

PRINTIHG MACHINE Filed July 21, 1928 2 sheets-sheet 2 WI TNEssEs E TOR 1 mtg'd Z w Patented Sept. 16, 1930 .e i 1 775 577 ARTHUR S- U s, or-P HI LAnEnrnIA, rENn'sYLvAnIA ii i i i i rRInrIN MAo rnn v p y pplication rudaul 21,' e2 s. Serial no; 294,429; V This. invention is concerned with printing .wardly towards the blanket cylinder by an apparatus; and comprisesa newv and. imsuitable means i I h a proved mechanism for picking upan' envel- This blanket cylind r. 2 1s r t t d b itope blank and transferring it to a blanket able nieans'shown at' 3,"whichalsofoperates a 6 cylinder5 there to be operated upon by a type vacuum pump 4; to which the air nozzle is con-i 55 cylinder. nected. I L i v. I

An object of my invention is to devise a new A hollow shaft 5 may extend through the 3 and improvedair:pick upmechanism. 1 Center of the blanket-icyllnder. Suitable A further object is to devise an airpick-up n uch as a Connection 6 connects the mechanism, the nozzle of which will move pumps 4 with the hollow interior of the-shaft v60 forwardly against the blank to be picked up, gh he lntermedlary'of the cam acand then rearwardly, in substantiallya recmated e pp f 7 Whlch, Whlle It may tili t'i i a take any desired form, is shown in the present A further object is todevice an. air pickn nce as provided with ports 8 and and 15 up mechanism carried'by a blanket cylinder, IIiOVable valve 10. The valve apparatus' sde-w 1.65

which will move forwardly against the blank slgned P E CllS'COIIHQCt; e pump to be picked up and the'n'rearwardlypin suband the 1 51 at p m 1n t stantia'llv a rectilinear-motion. J Cycle of llotatlfim of h blanket y QP- A still furtherobje'ct isito arrange an ai A shaft 11 is shown as ]0L1In3,ll8d 1 nt h8 0 pick-up mechanism with a nozzle of oblong d plates 23m 0$ blanket Cy f s section, the short 'axis of which extends in the Whlch Shaft Shown g 1 3 3 car r1es "plan'e'of rotat'ion. 1 v at one end'a cam follower l4wh1ch rides on Other obiects will present themselvesfas h Shaft y be P V P fi the description proceeds 1 l from rotating in other than the desired dlrec- Inthe drawings:-

U a v 7 tion by a spring 16 secured at one 'end'thereto.; 5 Fig; 1 is a front elevation of'the blanket i d to th centml Portion ofwshaft 1 is cylinder. the enclosedportion of which is an le 17 Connected y e bme cated' n the rear at the particular moment in 19 to thqalr P m lnterlorof'shwft the cycle of rotation V which the"i'llustration W111 noted the nozzle 17 Preferably depicts: i y v. Fig; 2 is'asecti0nal elevatiomtaken on line develQped latelirarlthough h s i gi 2 2 of Fig. 1, the blanket cylinder being assume any deslredshapa i T 'f" shown in operative relation toother parts-055" Onjthe Platform UPPLY P3P?! to thp-apnaratl'ls; f; 1 v be prlnted 1s held. Atthe tipof the envelope Fig.3 is a sectiononli ne3 3ofFi 1; 3 l -P finger or separatqr 20' fixed t? the 185 Fig.4 is a section onlirie 4 4' a Fig. 1 Y mounted d 21 gets Em i-h P11e of Fig. 5 illustrates on an enlarge'd scale de-' P r lt AS thqblzlnketpylmderg tailsshoWn. in Fig; lwithactuating cainin tates underthe'acttmtmn o-fpqwer 40. cluddf a I 1 thitisihvaftt llcgari'rieid alOZ1W1tilfi11EDfiOt1Qn 90, i V .i w 1 -re 0 1n er. 1env eoower. F112 6 w fi g rgf i r ll??? e 14 comes adjacent the head 15* ofthe cam: 15, 3 2. z w the follower. 14 causes-the shaft, 11' torock' r g. i t about its own axls whlle because ofthe'rotam p r YQ- "9 a 1011 0 P? an tion of the cylinder 2,1t traverses anarc the -i 15 a front s va a Ole/{grewto follower 14c moving outwardly and theninwar'dly against the face 15. The follower Fig. 7;an d:

F g -fl q g lnustmte. VaTlOus assumes in sequence the, dotted linepositi'ons phases of thenozzle action. v illustrated in Fig V As shown in Flg. 2,1 isthepileofenvelopes Since the nozzlel'? isfixed tothe shaft 11 g 50 or other paper to beprlnted, and is fedjdownin the same manner as follower 14 and in'the has an oblong opening 18 for a .purposetobei..,80 l

same angular relation, it will move towards and from the pile of envelopes simultaneously and in accordance with the substantially rectilinear motion of the follower 14.

Just before the nozzle contacts with the envelopes the valve apparatus 7 is operated by a cam mechanism to applysuction to the nozzle 17 The nozzle will then make contact and draw an envelope blank with it, pulling it from underneath the separator 20, and will carry it with it on its rearward motion. At this time, in the modification shown, apicker 22 fixed to a shaft 23 rigidly connected by links 24 to shaft 25 is lowered by a cam operating the shaft 25, and maintains a separation of the envelope attracted to the nozzle17 from the remainder of the pile.

Just after the head of the follower 14 begins its travel around the arcuate portion of cam 15 the gripper 26, fixed to shaft 27, is caused by any suitable cam operated mechanism such as cam, operated rack 28, actuating shaft 27, to grip the blank lifted by the air nozzle, against the arcuate portion of the blanket cylinder.

By means of the gripper 26 the blank is retained against the cylinderduring its rotation, and immediately before the gripper V has been brought into operative relation the valve apparatus 7 shuts off the'air in nozzle 17 from the pump.

During the rotation of the blanket cylinder 2, the envelope blank is juxtaposed against the rotating type cylinder 29 (Fig. 2); the type cylinder being inked by any conventional means schematically represented at 30 in the drawings.

Int-his manner the printing matter is applied to the envelope blank.

Upon further rotation of cylinder the gripping mechanism is released and finger 26 swings within the confinesof the blanket cylinder, permitting stripper 31 to function to remove the blank from the cylinder -and'to guide it into therack 32cont'ainin g the prinb ed blanks.

A spring 33 is preferably providedon'the gripper shaft 27 to prevent rotation in other than the desired direction.

action of 15, will flop forwardly under the action of the spring 16 to assume the position shown in dot-ted lines, in readiness to again pick up an envelope blank.

Figs. 7 and 8 illustratea feature of novelty in the nozzle design, and depict the advantages obtained from the oblong shape of the nozzle orifice.

By arranging thenozzlewith the short axis of its section extending in the plane of rotation, it will be seen as shown by the center lines in Fig. 7 that the nozzle can be rotated through a considerable an gleabout the nozzleorifice as a center, the shaft 11 to skilled mechanic.

which the nozzle is fixed traversing an are, before the nozzle will begin to break away from the paper and lose its Vacuum. If the nozzle were arranged with its long axis extending in the plane of rotation, or if the nozzle were circular in section, the angle of rotation before the vacuum would be released would be considerably lessened, thus. decreasing the efliciency of the apparatus. However, the apparatus is susceptible to operation with nozzles of other shapes.

In operation the nozzle 17 comes adjacent the pileof blanks 1, removes a single blank and carries it to a point Where it is seized by gripper 26, against the blanket cylinder 2. The blank is carried around the blanket cylinder underneath the type cylinder, :receiving the printing, and is discharged into rack As will be seen, my invention issusceptible to numerous modifications obvious to the Accordingly, I. intend to be limited .onlyby the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a printing machine, a blanket cylinder, and a suction-nozzle arranged interiorly of said cylinder and movable inwardly'and outwardly relative thereto for removing a blank from a pile thereof to the blanket eylinder.

2. In a printing machine, a blanket cylinder, a suction-nozzle mounted on said'eylinder and movable inwardly and outwardly relative thereto for picking up individual blanks from :a pile'thereof located adjacent the cylinder and carrying them to the blanket cylinder, a vacuum pump for the suctionder.

4. In a printing machine, a blanket cylinder, a suction-nozzle wi-thinthe blanket-cylinder, a holder for blank paper, meansformoving'the nozzle exteriorly of the blan'ket cylinder to pick up a sheet from the holder, and for withdrawing the nozzle within the cylinder, means for gripping the sheet around the blanket cylinder, andzmeans into which the blank is discharged, from the cylinder.

5. In a printing machine, a blanket cylinder, a suction-nozzle withinthecylinder, a holder for blank paper adjacent the cylinder, cam operated means for projecting the nozzle from the cylinder to pick up a blank, and for then moving it'inwardly, to deliver the blank to gripping means which grip the blank to the blanket cylinder.

6. In a printing machine, a blanket cylinder; a holder for blanks; a vacuum pump; a hollow shaft within the cylinder; a connection between the shaft and the pump; a suction-nozzle within the cylinder, flexibly connected to the interior of the hollow shaft; and means for projecting the nozzle outwardly to pick up a blank from the holder and for then retracting it inwardly to deliver the blank to gripping means which grip it to the cylinder.

7. In "a printing machine, a blanket cylinder, means for holding blanksto be print-,

ed, a vacuum pump, a valve for said vacuum pump, a hollow shaft within said blanket cylinder,'a connection between said hollow shaft and said'vacuum pump, a cam-operated suction-nozzle within said cylinder and connected to the interior of said hollow shaft, said nozzle being operable to move outwardly to pick up a blank from the holder and to then move inwardly to deliver the blank to gripping means which grip the blank to the blanket cylinder, the valve connecting and disconnecting'the pump and nozzle at the proper intervals in the cycle of operation.

8. In a printing machine, a blanket cylinder, a holder for blanks, a vacuum pump, a hollow shaft within the cylinder, a connection between the shaft and the pump, a second shaft in the cylinder, a suction-nozzle mounted on said second shaft, means for rotating the second shaft to project and retract the nozzle relative to the cylinder, and a connection between the nozzle and the interior of the first shaft.

9. In a printing machine, a blanket cylinder, a holder containing blanks adjacent the cylinder, a suction-nozzle carried by the cylinder to pick up the blanks and'to deliver them to the cylinder, and means to rotate the nozzle, said nozzle having an orifice of substantially oblong section with its short axis extending in the plane of rotation.

10. In a printing machine, a blanket cylinder, a holder containing blanks adjacent the cylinder, a suction-nozzle carried by the cylinder to pick up the blanks and to deliver them to the cylinder, and'means to rotate'the nozzle, said nozzle beingof a substantially oblong cross section with its short axis ex cylinder; the follower traveling on the radial face of the cam causing the shaft to rock about its axis, and the nozzle to advance and recede to pick up a blank from a pile thereof and to carry it to the blanket cylinder, the concentric portion of the cam then causing the follower and nozzle to remain within the confines of the blanket cylinder during a portion of the rotation of the latter.

I 12. In a printing machine, a blanket cylinder, a holder containing the blanks adjacent the cylinder, a suction-nozzle carried by the cylinder to pick up the blanks and to deliver them to the cylinder, and means to rotate the nozzle, said nozzle having an effective orifice of relatively great length with reference to its width, and arranged with its short axis extending in the plane of rotation.

ARTHUR S. HUCKINS. 

